Real … or really good special effects?

1 comment March 3rd, 2010

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Here’s a demo reel for a company called Stargate Studios that showcases its “virtual backlot.” Strictly speaking, this clip is more TV-related than movie-related, but either way, it’s an excellent illustration of how sometimes, the best special effects are the ones you don’t even notice…

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What makes a performance?

1 comment December 31st, 2009

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Hollywood Elsewhere blogger Jeff Wells, who seems to think that James Cameron’s AVATAR is the best thing since computer-generated sliced bread, makes the bold (though not necessarily wrong) claim that actress Zoe Saldana deserves a Best Actress nod for her role in AVATAR. A role, mind you, she plays via “performance capture” (Cameron’s term) technology.

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Sez Wells:

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“I’ve been feeling more and more persuaded over the last couple of weeks that Zoe Saldana deserves a Best Actress nomination for her motion-capture performance as Neytiri in AVATAR. In the manner of a silent-film actress Saldana’s emoting is necessarily broad, and I understand the uninformed suspicion that it’s not she who deserves the credit as much as the motion-capture tweaks that fine-tuned her performance, but my heart knows what it feels. Saldana got me.”

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I haven’t seen AVATAR yet — sue me. I have a four-year-old at home — so I can’t judge Saldana’s performance, but I think you have to grade on a curve for motion capture creations, where any part of an actor’s work can be tweaked in post-production. On the other hand, there’s nothing to say that, given current technology, any performance can’t be tweaked after it’s been filmed.

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To his credit, Wells had this to say about another motion-capture performance from five years ago:

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“And Andy Serkis’ Kong performance doesn’t play like any kind of “Gollum Kong” (which I fretted about a year and a half ago in this space), and in fact he creates something surprisingly life-like, or do I mean ape-like?”

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Personally, I would’ve liked to see Serkis get a nod for his KONG performance, especially after watching the making-of features on the DVD. It was a genuine performance, with director Peter Jackson basing Kong’s movements and expressions on Serkis’ work, and, what’s more, Serkis actually acted (on stilts, yet!) with co-star Naomi Watts during their scenes together, and he gave him plenty of credit for helping her (excellent) performance. Jackson’s KING KONG had its faults (like that awful, awkward dinosaur chase and the too-long bug battle), but the central performances at the heart of the movie weren’t just strong, they were genuinely Oscar worthy.

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In a decade or so, the debate over motion-capture performances will probably seem old fashioned. After all, was Lon Chaney less of an actor because he made the most of makeup?

A century of special effects

2 comments August 20th, 2009

Courtesy of Cinematical, here’s a fun little video with highlights of special effects technology from the past 100 years. 

It’s interesting how, after a certain point — say, THE ABYSS — everything becomes computer generated.

So that’s how they did it!

1 comment July 15th, 2009

Courtesy of Mark Evanier’s blog, News from Me, here’s a video showing how they managed to the leopard-related scenes in the classic comedy, BRINGING UP BABY. There were a surprising number of special effects used — mainly because, according to Evanier, star Cary Grant was unneasy around the big cat.

Before ’special effects’ was spelled ‘C-G-I’

Add comment July 10th, 2009

Click on the link below for a montage of home movies — including video of the 1978 Oscar ceremony — from the crew that worked on the special effects for a little movie called … STAR WARS.

http://www.vimeo.com/5494280

Maybe they’re upset because STAR TREK was so much better than those awful STAR WARS prequels

3 comments May 12th, 2009

Some found video, apparently shot somewhere near San Francisco:

Bad special effects. Bad, bad special effects!

3 comments January 28th, 2009

Yesterday, I posted a link to the list of the best 50 special effects shots of all time, courtesy of the Den of Geeks. Today, here’s a link to the other side of the coin — the “Top 24 Worst Special Effects of All Time” from the same site.

Once again, they’re good choices — including shots from SUPERMAN and JAWS. If you’ve seen the movies dozens of times (like me), you’ll know exactly which shots they’re talking about.

Truly special effects

Add comment January 27th, 2009

Here’s an interesting list from the film fiends over at The Den of Geek — the Top 50 Movie Special Effects of All Time. There are three things I like about this list:

1. It doesn’t limit itself to the usual suspects. Sure, JURASSIC PARK, STAR WARS and the parting of the Red Sea from THE TEN COMMANDMENTS are there, but so are moments from ALIEN RESURRECTION, JUST IMAGINE and BRAZIL.

2. The descriptions explain why the effects are special and don’t just resort to the usual “wow! that’s cool!” type of internet analysis.

3. Best of all, there are video clips from each and every one.